Alice Charlotta Tegnér (; Sandström; 12 March 1864 – 26 May 1943) was a Swedish music teacher, poet and composer. She is the foremost composer of Swedish children's songs during the late 19th century and the first half of the 20th century.

Background

Alice Charlotta Sandström was born in

Karlshamn Karlshamn () is a locality and the seat of Karlshamn Municipality in Blekinge County, Sweden. It had 13,576 inhabitants in 2015, out of 31,846 in the municipality. Karlshamn received a Royal Charter and city privileges in 1664, when King Charles ...

, Sweden, the daughter of Eduard Sandström (1829–1879), a ship's captain. The family moved to Stockholm in 1877 and Alice attended

Åhlinska skolan Åhlinska skolan (Åhlin School), or Åhlinska flickskolan (Åhlin Girls' School), was a girls' school in Stockholm, Sweden. Active from 1847 to 1939, it was one of the first schools in Sweden that offered serious academic education to female stu ...

. From 1880 to 1883 Sandström attended the

Royal Seminary The Royal Seminary, fully the Royal Advanced Female Teachers' Seminary (, abbreviated KHLS), was a normal school (teachers' college) in Stockholm, Sweden. It was active from 1861 until 1943. It was the first public institution of higher acade ...

(''Högre lärarinneseminariet'') in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

to train as a teacher. After graduation, she worked as governess. Her first position, in Finland, lasted a year. Her second position was with the publisher in Stockholm. In 1885, she married (1851–1926), a lawyer, and later secretary of the Swedish Publishers' Association and editor of ''Svenska Bokhandelstidningen''. The couple moved to the new suburb of Djursholm in 1891. Alice Tegnér worked voluntarily as a teacher at

Djursholms samskola Djursholms Samskola is the traditional name of a middle school in Djursholm, Sweden. The official name of the school today is '' Viktor Rydbergs Samskola''. History Djursholms Samskola was founded in 1891 as a private, co-educational institution, ...

and with the choir in the Djursholm chapel where

Natanael Beskow Fredrik Natanael Beskow (9March 18658October 1953) was a Swedish theologian and school headmaster. He was also active as a preacher, writer, artist, pacifist and social activist. Beskow published a number of collections of sermons. He also made ...

was a preacher.

Career

Alice Tegnér wrote many well-known children's songs in Swedish, most notably '' Mors lilla Olle''. It was published during 1895 in volume 3 of ''Sjung med oss, mamma!'' Tegnér also worked in such classical genres as chamber and

sacred music Religious music (also sacred music) is a type of music that is performed or composed for religious use or through religious influence. It may overlap with ritual music, which is music, sacred or not, performed or composed for or as a ritual. Reli ...

together with

choral music A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

cantatas A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning ...

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

and

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

sonatas In music a sonata (; pl. ''sonate'') literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cantare'', "to sing"), a piece ''sung''. The term evolved through the Music history, history of music, designating a variety of ...

. Her songs and compositions were inspired by both folk and art music. Her well-known hymnbook ''Nu ska vi sjunga'', with illustrations by

Elsa Beskow Elsa Beskow ( Maartman; 11February 187430June 1953) was a famous Swedes, Swedish author and illustrator of Children's literature, children's books. Among her better known books are ''Tale of the Little Little Old Woman'' and ''Aunt Green, Aunt B ...

, was published in 1943.

Awards

* 1914

Litteris et Artibus Litteris et Artibus is a Swedish royal medal established in 1853 by Charles XV of Sweden, who was then crown prince. It is awarded to people who have made important contributions to culture, especially music, dramatic art and literature. The ob ...

*1926 member of the Swedish Royal Academy of Music (''Kungliga Musikaliska akademien'') * 1929 First prize in the magazine ''Idun tonsättartävling''

Selected works

Children's songs

* ''Asarumsdalen'' * ''Baka kaka'' * ''Borgmästar Munthe'' * ''

Bä, bä, vita lamm "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep" is an English nursery rhyme, the earliest printed version of which dates from around 1744. The words have barely changed in two and a half centuries. It is sung to a variant of the 18th-century French melody "''Ah! vous di ...

'' * ''Dansa min docka'' * ''Ekorrn satt i granen'' * ''Hemåt i regnväder'' (text:

Zacharias Topelius Zacharias Topelius (; 14 January 181812 March 1898) was a Finnish author, poet, journalist, historian, and rector of the University of Helsinki who wrote novels related to Finnish history. He wrote his works exclusively in Swedish, although th ...

) * ''I skogen'' * ''Julbocken'' * ''Kring julgranen'' * ''Lasse liten'' (text:

) * ''Marschlek'' * ''Skogsblommorna till barnen'' (text:

) * ''Sockerbagare''

Other songs

* ''Var är den Vän, som överallt jag söker'' (text:

Johan Olof Wallin Johan Olof Wallin, (15 October 1779 – 30 June 1839), was a Swedish minister, orator, poet and later Church of Sweden Archbishop of Uppsala, Sweden between 1837 and 1839. He is most remembered today for his hymns. Early life He was born in ...

) * ''Betlehems stjärna (

Gläns över sjö och strand "Gläns över sjö och strand" ("''Shine over sea and shore''") is the opening line for a poem written by Viktor Rydberg, appearing in the 1891 '' Vapensmeden'' (''The gunsmith''). In the novel, the poem has no title. The title "Betlehems stjärna ...

)'' (text:

Viktor Rydberg Abraham Viktor Rydberg (; 18 December 182821 September 1895) was a Swedish writer and a member of the Swedish Academy, 1877–1895. "Primarily a classical idealist", Viktor Rydberg has been described as "Sweden's last Romantic" and by 1859 wa ...

) * ''Hell, vårt land!''

Other works

* Violin Sonata in A Minor

References

External links

*
LIBRIS Search Services.

– 161 children's songs as NWC, MIDI and PDF files. {{DEFAULTSORT:Tegner, Alice 1864 births 1943 deaths Litteris et Artibus recipients People from Karlshamn Swedish classical composers Swedish classical organists Swedish women classical composers Children's songwriters Swedish women songwriters Swedish women organists 19th-century organists 19th-century Swedish musicians Swedish poets Swedish women poets Swedish music educators Swedish women music educators